Date

7-2020

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)

Chair

Constance Pearson

Keywords

Sense of Community, Gender, Middle East

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership

Abstract

This study sought to examine and determine the difference in sense of community in female and male students in an international school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The independent variable in this study was the biological sex (male and female), and the dependent variable was their sense of community score. This quantitative research used sense of community theory developed by McMillan and Chavis as the foundation of the study. The researcher used a casual-comparative design to analyze the effects of the variables in the study. The students completed a Sense of Community Index (SCI-2) survey to provide the data for this study. The survey was 24 questions and used a Likert scale for scoring the overall sense of community. One hundred sixty-seven students completed the survey and 110 student responses were randomly selected out of the sample size for data analysis. There were 55 female respondents and 55 male respondents. The results were analyzed using an independent t test and the overall sense of community was obtained, with emphasis on the biological sex difference. The results concluded that there was no statistical difference in the male and female students’ sense of community and analysis failed to reject the null hypothesis. It is recommended that further studies are done in this area, in hopes that the findings would help in the development of training programs that focus on building sense of community. Such studies includes comparison of sense of community in students who have experienced the traditional school setting and the online setting, evaluating the direct influence teachers and/or parents have on students and their sense of community, as well as comparing a bigger sample of students in not only a private school, but public schools in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: biological sex, sense of community, membership, international school, students’ feelings, divisions

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